Former archdiocese official sought external review of clergy for sexual misconduct

A former official for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis called on Archbishop John Nienstedt to allow an external review of all clergy and remove priests who have engaged in sexual misconduct or pose a threat to children.

Jennifer Haselberger issued a written statement Saturday in response to media reports about what she termed "my unsuccessful efforts to convince the archdiocesan administration to take the necessary steps" to address sexual misconduct by priests.

Beginning in July, she released information to Minnesota Public Radio "regarding acts of sexual and other misconduct involving several members of the clergy. ... My hope was that by making this information public it would serve as a warning about predatory priests currently serving in the archdiocese," Haselberger wrote.

Among those was the Rev. Jonathan Shelley, 52, who served until June 2012 at St. John the Baptist Church in Hugo and currently has no assignment. A desktop computer owned by Shelley was found in 2004 to have thousands of pornographic images on it. Archdiocese officials did not report the case to the police. St. Paul police got involved this year only after Haselberger told the Ramsey County attorney's office about the computer.

The police closed their investigation Sept. 29 after finding no child pornography on discs the archdiocese provided. But a Hugo man who had alerted the archdiocese to the computer in 2004 turned over a copy of portions of its hard drive to police Friday.

Haselberger served until April 30 as chancellor for canonical affairs for the archdiocese.

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She resigned with "great sadness," she said Saturday.

While Haselberger said she has the "utmost respect" for the vast majority of priests, "I had come to the conclusion that it had become impossible for me to continue in that position given my personal ethics, religious convictions and sense of integrity," she wrote.

As she did at the time of her resignation, Haselberger asked "that Archbishop Nienstedt take his responsibilities towards the protection of the young and the vulnerable seriously" and permit "a comprehensive, external review of the files of all clergy of the archdiocese, and that following the review he remove from ministry and make public the list of clergy who have been determined to have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct, as well as those whom (sic) could reasonably be assumed to pose a threat to children and young people."

"Until this happens, I do not believe that it can be said that the archdiocese is honoring its promise to protect," Haselberger wrote.

A statement issued Friday by the archdiocese said it is committed to handling clergy misconduct matters "aggressively and consistently."

To that end, "we have formed a special task force and charged them with conducting a full review of our policies and practices." The findings of the report would be made public, the statement said.